Vertical doors, also known as overhead or garage doors, typically comprise an articulated door made up of an assembly of several joined-together panels or sections. Each panel is typically joined together one-above-the other by means of one or more hinge. The door is typically raised or lowered by means of a system of rollers and tracks. Rollers typically extend from outboard hinges on opposite ends of each panel. The rollers travel in tracks provided on opposite sides of the door. The tracks typically include a vertical section and a horizontal section which is typically at a 90° angle to the vertical section. A curved track section connects the vertical and horizontal sections. The hinges enable adjacent panels to pivot with respect to the other so that the panels can follow the tracks as the door is raised or lowered along the tracks.
Vertical doors can be raised or lowered manually or by means of an automatic door opener device. As is known, a typical automatic door opener includes an electric motor (e.g., ⅓ to ½ horsepower) which raises and, alternatively, lowers the vertical door by means of a chain or belt drive acting on a link attached to the vertical door.
A problem with existing vertical doors is that the hinges are almost always on the inside of the door and can contact and damage a vehicle parked in the garage as the door is raised or lowered. This can be a particular problem when using an automatic door opener because the user is typically spaced from the door and is unable to see whether the vehicle or other object is in too close of a proximity to the path of the hinge during door movement. Depending on the size and configuration of the hinges, the hinges can project away, or inward, from the inside surface of the panels anywhere from about 0.075 inch to 3 or more inches. And, vertical door hinges are robust and are frequently made of sturdy 11 to 18 gauge galvanized steel so they have the potential to damage anything in their path.
Should a vehicle be parked within a garage or other space in a proximity too close to the vertical door, it is possible that the bumper of the vehicle or another vehicle surface, could be in the path of the hinges extending out from the panels. Any contact between the robust hinge and the vehicle as the door is raised or lowered could scrape, gouge, or otherwise severely damage the vehicle. Damage could also occur to the vehicle should a moving vehicle strike a stationary hinge of a non-moving door.
Efforts have been made to solve the foregoing problems associated with damage that can be caused by vertical door hinges as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,187,197 (Verhey, Sr.) and U.S. Pat. No. 9,708,841 (Kar). However, the hinge covers proposed in those documents have certain important disadvantages. The Verhey cover disadvantageously requires a labor-intensive installation process requiring disassembly of the door hinges from the door which many consumers may not wish to do, or be capable of doing. The Kar hinge cover has attachment structure which is difficult and uneconomical to manufacture and limits the protective capability of the cover. It would be an advance in the art to provide a hinge cover which would protect a vehicle or other object from contact with, and damage by, a vertical door hinge, which would be easy and simple to attach to the hinge, which would attach reliably to the hinge, and which would be easy and simple to manufacture.